The bills for Schuylkill County and Tamaqua Borough per capita and occupation taxes will be sporting a new look when they are mailed on March 1.

Tamaqua tax collector Pam McCullion has an updated computer program, which brings Tamaqua into compliance with mandates from the county for all tax collectors to be using the same system. The program eliminates the need for a middleman when it comes to tax exemptions.In the past, taxpayers would pick up an exemption form, fill it out and return it to Tamaqua Borough Hall. If they wanted to know if their exemption request was granted, they needed to include a self-addressed, stamped envelope. Borough employees would compile a list of those requests and send it to the tax collector.For those who were exempt from the per capita and occupation taxes, their bills would be pulled out of the processed bills before March 1.Reasons for exemption from both the per capita tax and occupation taxes include earning less than $5,000 a year, active military service, full-time students and housewives with no earned income. To be exempt from the borough's occupation tax, you must be retired or disabled and have less than $5,000 in earned income.Every taxpayer will receive a bill this year, which is probably the biggest change. The statement will have a section for the exemption request, instructions on how to calculate your tax bill if you're exempt from either or both taxes and a line for your signature saying the information you provide is accurate.Once McCullion receives the exemption request, she will update her computer program. Unlike school district taxes, which are mailed in July, retired people are not automatically exempt from year to year for the occupational tax. According to borough officials, more than 95 percent of the people excused from paying the occupation tax are retired.McCullion sees the change as being more efficient and productive. She also realizes that traveling to her office could prove to be a hardship for elderly residents, which is why she travels to the Tamaqua ABC High Rise and the Majestic House apartment complexes to provide assistance and be more accommodating. She plans to be at the facilities on April 8.Realizing that some residents may have questions about the changes, McCullion hopes they will call her office at 570-668-6220 for answers."If you have a question, please call. No question is too trivial. I want to save people from any unpleasant surprises."Beginning March 1, the tax collector's hours will be 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. Mondays; 9:15 a.m. until 4 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays; and from 9 a.m. until noon the last Saturday of each month.